Softball teams travel to N.C. to compete in softball tournament

PETER\'S CREEK, N.C. - More than 30 military and open softball teams converged on an eight-field complex in southeastern Cumberland County to enjoy a weekend of Carolina sunshine, camaraderie and competition for Southern softball supremacy. Teams representing Fort Benning, Ga., Fort Campbell, Ky., Fort Myer, Fort Lee and Fort Belvoir, Va., and Fort Meade, Md. joined teams from Langley Air Force Base (Md.), Shaw Air Force Base (S.C.) and North Carolina-based Pope and Seymour Johnson Air Force Bases and Marines from Camp LeJeune to compete in the 25th Annual Southern Softball Association of America Armed Forces World tournament Saturday and Sunday in Peters Creek, N.C. The Pentagon-based Semper Athletics men's team took first place after downing the Fort Campbell team 27-26 in a hard-fought battle Sunday, while the Lady Warriors of the Defense Supply Center-Richmond topped defending champion Fort Belvoir to win the women's division. "It's a pretty good tournament," said Mario Walker, Semper Athletics' coach. "I got a chance to meet some of the All Armed Forces players from around the world. It's really like a reunion. Most of our guys are from the Maryland-D.C. area and we come down here every year to compete in this tournament." Walker, a sergeant first class who works with the White House Communications Agency, said his team has competed since 1995, but this is his team's first year winning the title. He added that the Semper Athletics team consists of players from the former Fort Myer team, which won it several years ago. The tournament, which was organized in 1984 by Simon and Becky Smith, is held each year as an opportunity for military teams to compete for annual bragging rights, to go along with numerous trophies, T-shirts and other awards. Each year, standout players from each team are selected for the All-World team and entered into the tournament's history books. Smith explained that the land that the complex sits on was originally the property of her father, Cevie S. Faircloth, a local farmer who used the land to harvest blueberries, tobacco and cotton. He gave the land to Becky and Simon years later, but Simon's love of softball outweighed his interest in farming, so he built the complex. "My husband was very interested in sports. He loved to play," explained Becky, who is also the SSAA's president. "He helped the community build its ball field and then he decided that he wanted to build his own field. That's when we formed the association and he built them one at a time." By the time Smith was finished, the complex featured eight fields, a press box, a concessions counter, three large restrooms and an air-conditioned hall-of-fame room. Smith said her husband then organized the tournament as a way of showing appreciation to the military softball players. Simon Smith died in 2002 but Becky's determination has allowed the tournament to continue to grow. She said she was very proud of this year's turn out. "It has grown," she said. "I know we had about five women's and about 10 men's teams last year. This year, we have the addition of two teams from Fort Benning and the Fort Campbell team to go along with the teams that normally show, like the teams from the D.C. area, Fort Meade and Fort Myer." Smith said one thing she would like to see is representation from Fort Bragg. Fort Bragg had no post-level team represented in the tournament. Team Code Red, which is not the official post team, but is well known on Fort Bragg, did participate in the event. The DSCR Lady Warriors held off a charging Fort Belvoir Lady Eagles team to remain atop of the winner's bracket, behind the play of tournament Most Valuable Player Tiffany Coggins. Coggins said she cherished the victory. "It feels good to win it again, especially for our teammate who passed away, Ursel B.," said Coggins, a military Family member following the championship game. "We didn't win last year, we lost to (Fort Belvoir) and so it felt good to do what we were supposed to do." She pointed out that last year, it was her team that found itself fighting out of the loser's bracket, only to be knocked off by the Belvoir women. The DSCR women wore blue and red jerseys with the number 21 on the front and the name Ursel B. above their individual numbers on the back to commemorate teammate Ursel Burton, who died last year after a fight with breast cancer. "She played for DSCR for four years and helped DSCR become the number one military women's team in the nation in 2005," explained DSCR coach James "J.D." Gibson. "She was named tournament MVP in this same world tournament in 2004. Her name will forever be in the SSAA Hall of Fame. She was a military spouse, a great friend to thousands and a beautiful person inside and out and she will surely be missed by many. "It's hard for me to talk about her as it is now," Gibson added. "But my reason for putting her name on the team shirts is because I know her, but I want people to ask about her name where ever we play." Gibson said the road to the championship goes through DSCR, Fort Belvoir or Fort Myer, which finished third this year. He admitted that this year's march to the title was filled with the usual hard-fought battles that are often seen in this tournament. He said he expected a tough game from the Fort Belvoir squad, considering it was the tournament's defending champ. "We knew we had a fight on our hands," said Gibson, who picked up his fifth tournament Coach of the Year award. "They beat us last year in the championship and they won in 2006-07. Before that, we won it four years in a row, so we knew it would be a tough game and we had to bring our A game. "I talked to the ladies and told them that we were going to have to play solid defense and our offense was clicking all day long, so I wasn't worried about that," Gibson said. "We did just that, we played a defensive game and we won the championship." Gibson pointed out that either his team or the Fort Belvoir team has won the championship for the past eight years. "For 2009 we will be able to say that we can claim the SSAA world," said Gibson. "I'm sure everyone will be gunning for us next year, so we're looking forward to it. As long as Becky has it, I will be right here."